Intended Mark
by melaniesteps
Summary: After intervening when seeing a child being abducted, Upton herself becomes a victim and gets taken with the girl. However, as the team digs deeper into her disappearance, they come to find that she was the intended target all along and that she's in greater danger than they thought. Will the team be able to find her before it's too late? (After the events of 'Ghosts', Upstead)
1. The Morning After

A pounding within her temple was the first thing Hailey felt as she woke up. Before she could even begin to open her eyes, the pounding intensified and she winced in response, finally opening her eyes and squinting due to the sun streaming in. The bright light that filled her vision only made her headache worse and she groaned, putting a hand up to her head in an attempt to sooth the pain within her head. After exhaling sharply, Hailey finally mustered up the strength to roll over onto her back and open her eyes again, allowing them to adjust to the sun coming in from her window. She groaned again as she slowly sat up, leaning against her headboard as she buried her face in her palms, the cold from her hands temporarily helping her awful migraine. She began to wonder why she had such a dreadful headache and in her tired state, it took her awhile to realize that she was hungover since she knew her head hurt due to the blow she received last night, but this headache was _much_ worse than it should've been. She was hungover because, obviously, she drank way too much last night. She drank way too much last night because…

She removed her palms from her face and rested them on her bent knees, her brows furrowed in confusion as she looked down, contemplating last night.

Why _did_ she drink too much last night?

Wait.

She shook her head, scoffing a little to herself.

Booth.

The thought of him put a bad taste in her mouth, but _he_ was why she drank so much last night.

More from last night began to get pieced together. She didn't go to Molly's; she stayed in and drank by herself until Jay came by. He offered to keep her company since she refused to go out, but she tried to say no. She confessed to him that it was in fact Garrett who pulled Booth off of her that night on New Year's Eve. He comforted her and she tried again to tell him to leave once she composed herself, but he refused. They kept drinking, talking, and then…

Hailey felt her head tilt as she tried to remember what happened after.

As she tried to remember, the smell of coffee being made filled her nose and she noticed what she was wearing. A CPD hoodie that was much too big to be her's.

Oh no.

Oh _no_. They did _not_.

Hailey quickly looked down at herself and saw she was wearing no bra and no pants.

No! How could she have done this with one of her colleagues. Not with her _partner_.

She sprung up and pushed away the aching in her head, grabbing a pair of leggings and slipping them on before sighing, running her hands through her hair.

She _knew_ Jay was out there; she could smell the coffee and could hear his steps outside her door and in her kitchen. She had to face this. She had to and she had to apologize if they were ever going to be able to get over this. All she had to do was walk in their, apologize, say last night was a fluke, politely ask Jay to leave, and act like nothing happened last night while at work. Simple.

Hailey nodded to herself, liking the plan she just put together and blew out a puff of nervous air, nodding again to bury her anxiety and exited her bedroom. She firmly walked into the kitchen and saw Jay at the stove, making some kind of breakfast which Hailey now smelled. He didn't seem to notice or hear her, as he was still at the stove and didn't look back when she walked in. She headed to the counter, resting her arms on it, and cleared her throat. Jay's head shot back and he smiled in her direction, laughing.

She probably looked like Hell. She certainly felt like it.

"Look who's up," he chuckled, turning back to the stove. "I gotta give it to you, Upton. You can handle a lot of liquor. You got in about 4 more shots than I expected."

Hailey was taken aback by Jay's light hearted attitude towards the situation. He was making coffee, breakfast, and jokes like nothing happened last night.

"Heh, yeah," Hailey scoffed hesitantly, sitting on a stool at the counter. She leaned in a little and lowered her voice. "What happened last night?"

"What?" Jay asked, looking back again with an eyebrow raised. "You don't remember me stopping by?"

"No, no, I do, but…" Hailey said slowly, looking down. "After _that_."

"After me coming in?" he asked, turning off the stove and dumping the contents of the pan on a nearby plate. Hailey saw that he made eggs and couldn't help but smile a little at Jay taking care of her. Her smile quickly disappeared when she remembered what occured last night. "Uh...nothing?"

"Nothing?" Hailey confirmed, not liking how Jay answered.

"Yeah," Jay scoffed. "Nothing. We had some drinks, talked, kept drinking and then you, um…" Jay said slowly, pointing to his mouth. "Had a little accident and got it in your shirt and pants. I gave you my sweatshirt and then you went to bed."

Hailey looked down again at the sweatshirt she was wearing and tried to comprehend what Jay just told her.

Did they really not sleep together? Did they just talk, and that was it?

Hailey couldn't decide if she was relieved or a little disappointed, but figured it was probably for the best that they didn't hook up. Certainly that would ruin both of their careers if anyone found out, but she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like if they…

She stopped herself when Jay spoke, breaking the awkward silence.

"But I'm flattered that you think we slept together, I really am," he said, easily reading Hailey's thoughts.

"Where did you-"

"I took the couch," Jay answered before Hailey finished her question, nodding to the sofa in the living room of Hailey's apartment. Jay laughed again at Hailey's mildly bewildered expression and she sighed, forcing a nervous laugh.

"Well, sorry that you had to see all that," Hailey said, regarding her throwing up on her clothes. She tilted her head, grimacing. "I didn't get any on you, did I?"

"No, you didn't blow any chunks on me," Jay joked and Hailey rolled her eyes, not being able to help from releasing a chuckle. She appreciated his constant joking this morning. It relieved her embarrassment and made her feel much less vulnerable than she wanted to appear last night in from of her partner. She figured he was doing this on purpose and felt it was a bit like he was trying too hard to cheer her up and be easy around her, but she didn't mind. She was glad he was here.

"Good," Hailey said as Jay put the plate of eggs in front of her, along with a cup of coffee. "Otherwise I would've never been able to get over that embarrassment. Already enough I have to get over from last night."

Hailey noticed Jay's smile go away after her comment about her being vulnerable last night and her stomach twisted when Jay's eyes turned soft.

"You got nothing to be embarrassed about," he said in a low voice. "Ok? _Nothing_ to be embarrassed about."

Hailey glanced down and nodded, looking back up to her partner's serious, but worried and caring, expression. "Got it."

"Good," Jay said, echoing what Hailey said just a minute ago. Hailey took a sip of coffee as Jay wandered over to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup.

"Thanks for breakfast by the way," Hailey said, changing the subject. Jay's smile returned and he nodded.

"Figured some grease would help your...situation," he said, pointing to his head, regarding Hailey's hangover.

"Grease?" Hailey repeated, looking down at the scrambled eggs and laughing. "They're just eggs."

"Yeah, eggs with a bunch of butter," Jay said and headed over to Hailey, taking the plate from in front of her and tilting it so the light hit it in a certain way. Hailey looked at Jay with a confused and curious expression and he nodded to the plate. "Look, see how it catches the light?"

Hailey glanced down and sneered, sucking in her teeth while looking at the _very_ shiny eggs in front of her. "Wow," she exhaled, raising her brows and looking back up at Jay. "Those are some glossy eggs."

"That's the only way to make 'em," Jay shrugged, setting the plate back down in front of Hailey and took another sip of coffee. Hailey reluctantly took a bit of the scrambled eggs and gave Jay a wry smile as he watched her eat. "Good, right?"

"Great," Hailey said sarcastically. "I can feel my heart clotting as we speak."

"Ha ha," Jay mocked and checked his watch. "Look, I'm gonna head home and shower and then I'll swing back here in about an hour."

"Jay, I don't need-"

"Yeah, I know you don't need me around," Jay interrupted, his smile going away once more and his eyes growing soft again. "But...I need to be around you, ok? Last night was rough and...I just wanna be there for you. At least for today."

Hailey felt her own eyes become soft as her eyes slanted upwards in a sympathetic way. She sighed, nodding reluctantly after a few seconds of silence.

"Alright, I'll be here," she answered and Jay seemed to breath a sigh of relief, nodding and satisfied with Hailey's reaction.

"Sounds good, I'll see you in a few," Jay said and exited Hailey's apartment.

 **Sorry, I know it's short. Just a little intro to some Upstead that'll be in this story. Hope you enjoyed the first chapter!**


	2. Therapy

**I appreciate all the reviews! I'm glad you guys are enjoying reading this story as much as I am writing it! Thanks for the support :)**

* * *

Hailey subtly checked her watch, barely flickering her eyes down just long enough to catch a glimpse of the time. She didn't need an exact time, just an estimate so she could know if her session was coming to an end. She dreaded talking to the District psychologist and the hour-long sessions felt much longer than only 60 minutes.

This was her eighth session in two weeks. Two weeks since she arrested Booth and Voight ordered her eight mandatory sessions with the psychologist without much of an explanation. When she tried asking why, he just said she wouldn't be allowed back to work until she completed them. Normally, Hailey would've protested and fought against Voight's sentencing, but he made it clear many times that he would not let her back to work unless she completed all eight sessions. Not to mention that she chewed out Jay just a few weeks ago for not taking his time with the psychologist seriously and the last thing she wanted was to be called a hypocrite.

The sessions weren't all too bad, Hailey supposed. She did four last week and four this week and although it was a lot for each week since it felt like she was bombarded with questions, she wanted to get them out of the way and done with as fast as possible. It was an hour of her just talking, the psychologist listening, and occasionally the two talking about other things not related to Booth, which Hailey enjoyed. When she _did_ talk about Booth, she couldn't lie and say that it didn't feel soothing and cleansing to talk about him and how she got to arrest him.

However, she hated these sessions at the same time. She barely knew this psychologist and, all of a sudden, she was expected to pour out details about her personal life and demons to this stranger. Also, Hailey felt extremely vulnerable when talking about Booth and she _hated_ feeling vulnerable.

Hailey couldn't help but smirk a little when she remembered that this was her last session so it didn't really matter how much she hated them anymore.

The thought of this being her last session caused her to tilt her wrist and peek at her watch again and check the time. A second glance helped her pinpoint a better time and she only had about five minutes left in this session.

The very first thing she noticed when she came in for her first session was that there was no clock in the room. It took her all of two seconds to figure that having no clock in the room was done on purpose so stubborn, hard-headed officers like herself wouldn't get distracted by watching the clock carefully to count down the moments until their session would be over. Luckily, Hailey had a watch on her wrist and by the second session, she was confident she had mastered looking at her watch without the psychologist noticing.

By the fourth session, Hailey had mastered the art of being able to mindlessly keep up with conversation while thinking about other things, like she was doing right now. She'd start each session really trying and would really talk to her psychologist, but when she got bored or felt like she was being too vulnerable, she'd change the subject and zone out into thoughts of her own. She'd ride out the session best she could and the second it ended, she'd thank her psychologist and leave the session.

It was a mildly tedious routine, but again, Hailey smiled when she reminded herself that this was her last session and after this, she'd be back to work. She'd be back to work and that meant that Hailey had won and Booth had lost; everything he did to her and everything he put her through didn't stop her from doing her job.

"Well Detective Upton," the psychologist said, snapping Hailey back into a state of full attention. "It's noon."

"It is, already?" Hailey lied politely, obviously looking to her watch now and raising a brow with a friendly smile. "Didn't even realize."

"Time flies when you're having fun," the psychologist joked and Hailey scoffed, appreciating the sarcastic humor from her psychologist who definitely knew that Hailey didn't really enjoy the therapy. It didn't really take a psychologist to figure that out. Hailey decided to display some courtesy and didn't stand up right away like she usually would. "I'd be lying if I said you weren't one of my best patients."

"Really?" Hailey asked, tilting her head. She squinted her eyes with a little disbelief, though, and wondered if this was just something the psychologist told all of her patients.

"Yep, you're very easy to talk to and you took this seriously," the psychologist smiled, lifting a palm up and letting it drop on her lap. "That's really all I can ask of a patient."

"Well...thank you," Hailey said a little unsurely, not certain how to respond to that. She began reaching into her back pocket to grab the waiver for the psychologist to sign, but stopped when the psychologist continued.

"I'm proud to say that I think you're doing much better than our first session," she said and Hailey nodded, not doubting that. Her first session, she was a complete mess. "I think with some more long-term therapy…" Hailey flinched a little, but let the psychologist continue before shooting down the idea. "You could really get ahead of this."

"Thank you, really," Hailey said as diplomatically as she could. "But I'm fine. I feel much better and these eight sessions were all I needed."

Hailey stood up, as did the psychologist, and Hailey grabbed the paper from her pocket.

"I really think long-term therapy would be beneficial for you," the psychologist reiterated and Hailey had to stifle a sigh as she shifted her body position uncomfortably. "Not just with things regarding Booth, but later-"

"Please," Hailey said with a polite, but curt, tone. Hailey handed the paper out to the psychologist and she reluctantly took it, concern in her eyes. "I will be fine. I promise if I ever want to talk, you will be the first one I call. But, if you could just…" Hailey said, nodding to the paper she handed the psychologist. The psychologist gave Hailey a hesitant look and now Hailey couldn't stifle her sigh. "Look—I really appreciate it. But...right now...the only long-term therapy I need is going back to work and helping Intelligence put more people like Booth in jail."

The psychologist gave Hailey one more glance and Hailey kept her face firm, indicating she wanted that waiver of work return signed and the psychologist gave in, placing the paper on her desk and grabbing a pen. She signed the bottom of it and handed it back to Hailey, who gave the psychologist a soft smile.

"Thank you very much," Hailey said, folding the paper and putting it in her back pocket again. She grabbed her jacket from the chair and slipped it on. She headed for the door but quickly turned her head back to speak to the psychologist. "If I ever need to talk, I'll be back. Promise."

The psychologist just nodded, giving Hailey a flat smile. Hailey returned the expression with a forced grin of her own before she exited the room.

* * *

"What do we got?" Hank asked, putting his hands in his pockets to keep them warm as he walked over to the scene. Atwater and Ruzek hovered near the body while Burgess and Halstead were taking statements from nearby witnesses.

"Katherine Joy, 42, three GSWs to the torso and one that grazed her neck. This all happened about two hours ago," Ruzek answered, looking to Hank.

Hank noticed a tan line on the woman's wrist and looked to his two Intelligence members, taking his hands out of his pocket and pointing to his own wrist. "This a mugging? Her watch is gone," Hank said, looking around at the alley they were in.

"Doesn't sound that way," Burgess said, coming up to the three of them and Hank looked to her. "Witnesses said Katherine was with her 10 year old song, Greg, when a van blocked off that entrance of the alley-" Burgess said, pointing to one end of the alley. "And abducted the boy. Mom tried to intervene, and…" she trailed off, motioning to Katherine's body in front of them.

"They take her watch," Hank said, looking to the tan line on the wrist again. "And her son. Anything else on her missing?"

"No, purse still has her keys and wallet and it doesn't look like any cash is missing. This is really sloppy and just looks like an impulse thing," Atwater suggested and Hank quickly shook his head.

"The watch, maybe, and killing her, but you don't just randomly kidnap a kid. This was planned." Hank sighed and looked to Burgess. "Any witnesses get a look at the van?"

"Yeah, it was a red Ford, got a partial on the plate. William-4-2 and the last digit was 9."

"Good, run it. Where're Antonio and Al?"

"They're already talking to the husband," Ruzek answered.

"Hey," Hank heard a woman say and he quickly recognized the voice. He glanced back and saw Hailey jogging up to them after ducking under the yellow tape blocking off the scene. Hank watched as she came up to them. "Hey," she repeated. Burgess, Atwater, and Ruzek all replied but Hank shoved his hands back in his pockets and looked to Hailey.

"What're you doing here?" Hank asked sternly, but cautiously.

"I went up to the bullpen but couldn't find you. Platt said you guys were here on a case and I got here quick as I could. I'm here to _work_ ," Hailey answered eagerly.

"You haven't been cleared yet," Hank said in a low voice, as he saw everyone else watching and listening to the exchange between him and Hailey.

Hailey maintained careful and firm eye contact with Hank as she removed a piece of paper from her back pocket and handed it to Hank. He unfolded it and scanned through it, seeing the signature on the bottom from the District psychologist.

"Just finished my last session an hour ago," Hailey said as Hank looked at the signature. He looked up at her and tried to decide what to say, since he wanted to truly make sure she was ready to return to work, but Halstead ran up and interrupted their conversation with urgent news.

"Witness said he saw a guy who kept eyeing Katherine and Greg at a breakfast place they went to today and that he saw the guy follow them into a nearby store," Halstead explained.

"Got a name?"

"Omar Hernandez. And get this, called the District to run him and turns out he owns a red van."

"Hit it," Hank nodded and his officers began jogging over to their cars, but Hank spoke before they could get too far. "Hailey, you hang back. We need to talk."

Hailey's expression was shocked and Hank could tell she was clearly upset that he wouldn't let her go, but she regained control and played it off, just nodding as an answer. Her and Halstead exchanged a glance and she nodded to him.

"I'm fine, go," she said quietly and Halstead caught up with Burgess, Ruzek, and Atwater. Hailey hesitantly turned back to face Hank and released a small sigh. "What's up?"

"Not here. C'mon," Hank said, putting a hand on Hailey's shoulder in a comforting way. "Let's head back to the District and I'll catch you up on the case."

Hailey nodded, but Hank saw her roll her eyes in his peripheral vision and couldn't help but scoff a little at her resilience. However, her resilience wasn't what Hank was looking for when he wanted her to return. He was looking for her to be fine. More than fine; he needed her to be reliable with her head in the right place. A psychologist couldn't pick that out, but Hank could tell when something was really wrong with one of his officers and he hoped he would find nothing negative in Hailey that would prevent her from doing her job properly.

* * *

Hank leaned against the corner edge of his desk while Hailey stood in the doorway with her arms crossed and her face stoic. Hank smirked and sighed as he saw Hailey wasn't budging.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" she asked, remaining planted in the doorway with her arms still folded over her chest.

"C'mon in, take a seat," he replied, nodding to the seat in front of him. She exhaled sharply through her nose indicating her disdain at talking with Hank. It's not that she didn't like talking to Hank, but Hank knew Hailey was smart. Stubborn to the core like the rest of his team, but very smart. She was intuitive and observant and she knew why Hank pulled her aside to talk to her. She knew exactly where this conversation was headed and Hank probably figured she didn't want to talk to him about all of this.

After a few more seconds of clear reluctance, Hailey finally stepped in but remained standing. Hank kept his smirk as he nodded to the chair again and Hailey tilted her head.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah," Hank said with a nod, raising his brows. "Seriously. Take a seat." Hailey bit her inner cheek and rolled her eyes a little, sitting in the seat across from Voight and crossing her arms again. "Why so stubborn?" Hank asked bluntly and Hailey gave a scoff with a crooked smile.

"Because I know exactly where this conversation is going and I know _exactly_ where it's coming from," she said in a rigid, low voice. "I've had _eight_ conversations like this over a two-week span." She gave a small shrug. "To be honest, I'm kinda burnt out."

"That was your decision to have all eight sessions in two weeks so don't use that excuse on me," Hank said, reminding her that it was indeed her decision to do all eight sessions in just half a month. Hailey's light expression turned cold as she swallowed nervously, not liking what Hank said. He sighed, looking down and then looking back up to her, talking in a gentle volume. "I'm not here to talk to you like you're some patient and I'm some psychologist. I'm here to talk to you like you're one of my detectives and I'm your boss." Hailey glanced down as Hank continued talking. "And my job...as your _boss_...is to make sure that you are OK to return to work. I told you to go to the psychologist not because I want to see what she says," Hank said, pulling out the paper and holding it up which caused Hailey to look back to him. He tossed the paper onto his desk with no care as to where it went. "I don't care if she thinks you're ready or not. I told you to go to her because I wanted it to be a time where you could...reflect while on a break. If you're ready to go after only two weeks, then that's fine. But I need to hear it from _you_." Hank shrugged. "And if you're not ready to return, then that is totally fine. Your spot will still be here when you get back." Hank furrowed his brows in concern and paused, reading Hailey's expression. She seemed to really be listening and Hank appreciated that. "So...are _you_ ready to return and do your job properly?"

"Yes," Hailey confirmed with no hesitation. Hank nodded, not expecting anything different from Hailey.

"You sure?"

Hailey looked down and seemed to think of a better response other than a simple 'yes.' She creased her forehead and looked back up. "Sarge," Hailey said, uncrossing her arms and leaning forward. "You're acting as if something real bad happened during the sting with Booth. I mean…" she raised a shoulder and shook her head. "Sure it went a little sloppier than we anticipated. But we got him. I'm fine to return."

"I don't care about the sting and how it went down," Hank answered reluctantly, not wanting to tell Hailey _why_ he was really talking to her. A confused look grew on her face and he sighed. "Halstead told me what happened between you and Booth. What happened on New Years Eve."

Hailey's face once again turned stiff and her eyes cold as she seemed to zone out, her mouth opening slightly, surprised by what Hank just told him. "Now don't be mad at Jay," Hank quickly said, already noticing that she was angry with Halstead for disclosing that information with him without her knowing. "I asked. I needed to know the whole story and I figured you weren't gonna tell me anything. So _that's_ why I'm making sure you're _really_ OK to return to work given everything that's happened. You reopened some pretty nasty wounds and I don't need them festering and affecting your work."

"I'm fine," Hailey snapped almost instantly.

"I know you're fine. I need to know if it's gonna affect your ability to work."

"It won't," Hailey responded instantly again and Hank nodded.

He stared at her for a few more seconds, seeing no falter in her firm expression and nodded once more. "Alright then. Let's get you caught up on this case then."


	3. Feelings of Betrayal

Hailey silently thanked the fact that Voight's office door was closed and that he couldn't hear the anxious tapping of her nails against her desk. Her knee was bouncing in rhythm with her tapping as she stared at the stairs, anticipating the moment that Jay would return with the others. Her heart raced restlessly and her mind flooded with thoughts of anger and betrayal. It had been about half an hour since Voight told her that Jay told him about the history between her and Booth and Hailey still couldn't believe it. She still couldn't fathom that Jay had told Voight about what Booth tried to do to her. Jay had promised her he wouldn't tell Voight unless he really needed to and there was absolutely no reason that Jay needed to tell Voight about her and Booth's...history.

Now that Voight knew about this, she knew he would never allow her to attend Booth's bail hearing in a few days. Well, technically he couldn't stop her from going, but she figured he would probably require her to do some more therapy sessions as punishment for going to the hearing. Hailey smirked a little to herself at the thought; she knew that's what he'd do because that's exactly what she would do if she was in his position.

She shook her head at the thought while still displaying a wry smile. She wasn't necessarily mad at Voight since he was just trying to protect her with the new information he was presented. Hailey's smile faded when she thought about who she was really mad at: Jay.

She felt her blood begin to boil again and her heart raced as she thought about the fact that he betrayed her. She still couldn't believe it, as she truly thought he would keep the information to himself for her sake. Clearly, that wasn't the case and with all this in her mind, she sprung to her feet when she heard the gate that led to the lobby open and footsteps come up the stairs. She went around to the front of her desk and crossed her arms, firmly planting her feet as well as she waited. As soon as Jay appeared, she would pull him aside before Voight got a chance to even see Jay.

Hailey didn't care that she was at work. She was going to give Jay hell. It was going to be quiet and quick as to not cause a scene, but pure hell nevertheless.

However, much to Hailey's dismay, it was Al and Antonio that were the ones who were coming up the stairs; not Jay and the others. Hailey quickly sat down on the corner of her desk, keeping her arms crossed as she nodded to them.

"Talk to the husband?" She asked and they both nodded as an answer. "How's he doing?"

"Well," Antonio shrugged, taking off his jacket and hanging it on his desk chair. He took off his hat and tossed it onto his desk as he sat in the chair. "Not good. He's kinda a mess, but he agreed to do a trap-and-trace on his phone if the kidnappers call and a tech team is at his house right now setting it up."

"That's good," Hailey said honestly, but my attention was focused on the stairs. Hailey's body itched and ticked for Jay; she wanted so badly for him to come up at this moment so she could tell him off and so Hailey could let him know how disappointed and upset she was with him. Yet, he still didn't show.

"How was therapy?" Al asked, looking to Hailey. She snapped out of her focus on the stairs and looked to Al, pursing her lip as she gave a small nod.

"Good, I think it really helped," she said with no honesty this time. She didn't believe talking about things helped; especially with a stranger. It didn't matter if they were a trained psychologist or not; she was not fond of talking about her personal demons with a stranger. Al and Antonio both snickered and Hailey's brows knitted into confusion. "What?" She asked.

"Don't lie to two of the best liars in this city," Antonio said, motioning to him and Al. Hailey forced a scoff, although she wasn't entirely too amused.

"Well, what do you want me to say?" She asked with a shrug and Antonio gave a small smirk.

"What you just said told us plenty," he said and stood up, walking over to Hailey, leaning in a little. "You lied about therapy being helpful which tells us that Hailey Upton is as stubborn as a damn mule."

"Oh, shut up," Hailey scoffed and playfully pushed Antonio away. He gave a laugh back, which told Hailey he was probably joking about his comment, but she still couldn't help but feel insecure that he was telling the truth, even a little bit. She frowned a little at the thought.

Was she really that stubborn?

Voight's door opened and he leaned against his doorway, his expression looking a little brighter than normal.

"How'd talking to the husband go?" He asked Al and Antonio.

"Good; he's agreed to a trap-and-trace on his phone," Al said, reiterating what Antonio told Hailey a few moments ago.

"I just got a call from ballistics. Gunshots are a match to a string of kidnappings up in northern Minnesota about a year ago," Voight told his three detectives and Antonio stood up straight, reaching for his pocket.

"I should call Rick, Katherine's husband. He told me to call him the moment we find out anything new."

"Do it," Voight approved and Hailey's head shot over to the staircase when she heard the gate open and voices. "The guy lost his wife and his kid is missing, we owe him information."

Antonio went down the stairs as Hailey's foot tapped anxiously against the floor as she waited to see who was coming up the stairs. She immediately stood up when she saw Jay come up first and was about to take a step towards him, but she stopped herself when she remembered Voight was standing in the room too. She played it off and simply sat back down on the corner of her desk, crossing her arms again in an attempt to calm her fidgeting.

"Omar Hernandez is nothing more than a regular guy," Ruzek said, sitting at his desk and putting a hand to his forehead, rubbing it. "He was just eyeing Katherine because he thought she was pretty. After breakfast, he went back to his house and his wife, mother, and two kids can all confirm he was there."

Burgess removed Hernandez's picture from the suspect pool on the whiteboard and simply tossed it in the garbage.

"We got a ballistics match on the bullets used to kill Katherine and they're a match to kidnappings in Minnesota," Voight said and continued talking, Hailey thought about the trap-and-trace, but she was focused on Jay. She was eyeing him down, silently shooting daggers, but he wasn't looking to her. He was looking to Voight and intently listening to what he was saying. It seemed that Jay had absolutely no idea what was in store for him from Hailey and, for some reason, that made her more angry. She knew he didn't even think about how he might've hurt her by telling Voight about her history with Booth and she was seething now.

"Uh...scratch the trap-and-trace," Antonio muttered, interrupting Voight and Voight gave him a confused look.

"What do you mean?"

"Mr. Joy did some research on those string of kidnappings and turns out all five kids that were kidnapped were returned when the parents paid the ransoms. He wants the same for his son and refused all and any help from the Chicago PD," Antonio sighed and continued on. "I'm sorry, Hank, I should've looked more into it and maybe he didn't have to know."

"That's alright," Voight said, giving a small sigh back. "Just because he refuses our help doesn't mean we're going to stop helping him. We'll keep eyes on his house starting tomorrow and tail anywhere he goes. He'll lead us to whoever is behind this. However, in the meantime, I want everyone looking into the Minnesota kidnappings and let's get some suspects up on that board," he said firmly, pointing to the whiteboard. Everyone else looked to the empty suspect pool, but Hailey kept her eyes on Jay, narrowing them slowly as she got more angry at him.


	4. Confrontation

"And, then, uh...let me get a...blueberry scone?" Jay told the barista, although with the uncertainty he said it with, it sounded more like a question than a statement.

"A blueberry scone?" she repeated, confirming Jay's order. He gave a nod, trying to be more confident in his decision.

The scone definitely wasn't for Jay, he hated blueberry. It was for Hailey, and he was getting her a coffee as well. She texted him early this morning, asking if he could stop by so the two of them could talk. Talk about what, he had no idea. There was no way to tell what she even wanted to talk about since she only texted him, therefore leaving him unable to determine her tone. He smirked a little to himself, wondering if there was anything he did recently to make her mad, but nothing came to mind. The last time he saw her was at work yesterday for a brief moment before they all went to chase down more leads and investigate the case of the missing Greg Joy boy. Normally, the two of them would be working together, seeing as how they are partners, but Voight has been keeping her on a short leash due to her just finishing her mandatory therapy with the District psychologist. Jay smiled to himself a little again, knowing she hated going to the sessions and it didn't surprise him that she did all eight sessions in just two weeks. Every day, she would text or call him, complaining to him about how unfair it was that she had to go to these sessions without much of a say in the matter. Jay would just listen and tell her what she wanted to hear, and realized he almost served as a second therapist for her.

Although he hated to hear how unhappy she was and how uncomfortable the sessions made her feel, as she wasn't one to discuss how she felt with a stranger, it made Jay feel of value to her and made him feel trustworthy. She confided into him things that he figured she had probably told no one else. Things about her past, about herself, and about Booth. She had only told him these things and he felt like the most trustworthy guy in the world to her.

He found himself caring more deeply for her the more they worked together. She was stubborn and occasionally got on his nerves, but she was a pillar in his life that he could always rely and lean on. He looked forward to seeing her every day and also enjoyed talking to her, no matter what it was about.

It had been a while since they really talked, the last time being two weeks ago when he went to go see her after Booth's arrest. Although she was very drunk by the time they went to bed, he loved being there for her and they shared a moment that, even though he enjoyed, he didn't think she had remembered. Maybe that's what she wanted to talk about...

His smile got so big he felt his teeth peaking through his lips and quickly caught himself, seeing the barista glance at him with a confused look as to why he was smiling to himself. He brushed his lip with his thumb to cover the smile and returned to a stoic expression, waiting for his order to be finished.

"I have two medium coffees and blueberry scone for Jay?" another barista called out a few moments later, and Jay stepped up.

"Thanks," he said, nodding to the barista and grabbing both coffees and the bag with the scone. He headed outside and walked down a block, as he went to a coffee shop near Hailey's place since he wanted the coffee to be hot when she got it. He got to her door and sloppily knocked by lightly kicking the door, as he had no free hand.

"Hailey? It's Jay-" Jay said, but before he could continue, the door opened abruptly and Hailey motioned for him to come in. He was taken aback by how quickly she answered the door, as if she was waiting right by it for him to come by, but he pushed the thought aside and entered, putting her coffee and scone down on the counter as she closed the door. "Got you a coffee, two creams one sugar," he smiled, looking to her. She didn't smile back and crossed her arms, causing Jay to furrow his brows in confusion and hesitation but Jay again pushed that aside, keeping his smile and nodding to the bag on the counter. "And a blueberry scone."

"I don't like blueberry," Hailey answered sternly, staring at Jay with her blue eyes that seemed like ice, as there was something cold behind her expression. She remained silent, her gaze fixed on him and he released a nervous scoff in an attempt to ease the tension. She was clearly upset, and his heart raced as he had an idea as to why she might be angry with him.

"Is…" he started, attempting to play dumb. He fidgeted a little, tilting his head and clearing his throat. Hailey didn't even flinch, as he figured she would have as he was trying to figure out what to say. He paused, rethinking his strategy and considered going against playing dumb. She wasn't just angry, she was furious and Jay could tell. He had never seen her like this, her frown so still and her eyes so unyielding. He looked down briefly before looking back up, finding it difficult to face such an unrelenting expression on the woman he cared so much about. "Did I do something?" he asked, deciding to play dumb in the hopes that she would go easy on him.

"Seriously?" she hissed, her expression unhinged. She remained still except for her eyebrows narrowing and slightly shaking her head. "You're gonna act like you don't know I know what you did?"

Jay inhaled sharply as he adjusted his stance in an attempt to hide his nervousness. He looked down, not able to look at her for too long. She didn't know the story, she was drunk and had probably blurred what happened with what she _thought_ happened that night after Booth's arrest. He had went over to comfort her and they both got a little drunk, her more than Jay. She knew that, as he told her that the next morning. What she didn't remember initially, however, was that she kissed him. It was unprofessional and they were both drunk, but it was just a kiss. She made the move on him and he didn't reject it. In fact, things probably would have gone further with them potentially making out, but a moment after she kissed him, Hailey broke off and threw up. She probably thought that things _did_ go further or wanted to make sure that what happened would stay just between the two of them. Jay nodded to himself, looking back up to her. "Look, I'm sorry, ok?" he admitted, lowering his voice and standing up straight. "I didn't think you-"

"Didn't think I'd find out?" Hailey snapped.

"Yeah…" Jay mumbled, ashamed. He shouldn't have lied to her the morning after when she asked if anything happened between them, but he did and all he could do now was own up to it and let her know that what she did was alright with him. In fact, it was more than alright. "I did it to protect you."

" _Protect_ me?"

"Yes, I didn't want you to be embarrassed that you came onto me," he said quickly, not daring to let up because he had to let her know how he felt before he would regret _not_ telling her. Her expression finally changed, but he ignored it and continued. "But there's nothing to be embarrassed about, Hailey. When...when you kissed me-"

"Stop," Hailey interrupted, her cold expression now a confused one as she uncrossed her arms. "What the _hell_ are you talking about?"

Jay opened his mouth to speak, but stopped, reading Hailey's features and seeing how puzzled she was. "That night…" he started, her perplexed face still there. "That night after Booth, when I came over?" he continued, although no sense of realization appeared on her expression. "You...you kissed me."

Shock filled Hailey's face, but she quickly controlled it and turned it into an expression mixed with anger, confusion, and other emotions that Jay could not discern.

"What?" Hailey asked, her voice quiet and her eyes nearly empty. Jay closed his eyes and stifled a groan, looking down and slightly shaking his head to himself. She didn't know about how she kissed him and this was about something else. What she said next, Jay expected her to say. "You said nothing happened that night." She took a step forward, her eyes narrowing and her voice become more broken. "You told me that _nothing_ happened that night. You _lied_ to me?"

Jay looked up to her, feeling his eyes go soft against hers that shot daggers at him.

"I didn't want you to feel embarrassed by you kissing me," Jay said quietly. "You didn't remember the morning after and I figured that was better for you, but-" he stopped himself, sighing. He rubbed his forehead and forced it out. "I liked it. It didn't matter that you were drunk and I was drunk. It...it felt _real_." Jay saw Hailey's expression soften. He tried to say more, but she knew what he was saying and that showed in her reaction. He just closed his mouth and nodded, knowing she understood what he was implying.

Jay didn't know if he loved her, and he was hesitant to love another partner, but he had feelings for her and he prayed she felt the same.

"Seriously?" she scoffed, her semi-soft expression returning to what it was when Jay first entered. Her slanted eyebrows locked back into their original position and her eyes hardened on Jay. "You feel that way and then lie to me?"

"Hailey-"

"No!" she shouted, Jay flinching at her raise in voice. She quickly brought it back down, remaining composed. "Just-stop. We can talk about...that...later. You don't know why I asked you to talk today then?"

"No," he answered, shaking his head. He decided not to say anything else, as to not anger her more and he was actually curious as to why she was so upset with him before he revealed to her that he lied.

"You-" she said, beginning to lose her composure and her voice began to become quaky. "You told Voight about Booth. About what he did to me and what he almost did to me at the New Year's Eve party." Jay closed his eyes again, another blow being landed on him that made him feel guilty as hell. Now, he really couldn't face her and he looked down, bracing himself for the storm that was about to come. "You told me you wouldn't tell Voight and it wasn't your _place_ to tell him."

He could hear the rise in her voice coming and he spoke as calmly and quietly as he could manage, still not looking up at her. "He asked and-"

"You shouldn't have told him!" Hailey shouted and Jay looked up to her, seeing her controlled yet stern expression explode into a look of pure anger. "It was none of your business to begin with! The only reason you found out is because you went behind my back to find out!"

"It was something that Voight needed to know-"

"That is a load of BS and you _know it_ ," Hailey said through gritted teeth. "What happened to me was not Voight's business and it was not your business!"

"It is!" Jay yelled back, slamming his hand on the counter, unable to hold it in. He thought about letting her get it all out, thought about just sitting there and be her punching bag. It probably would have been for the better for the both of them, but he wasn't going to sit there and let her imply that he shouldn't care about things that have hurt or have the potential to hurt her. Whether he felt romantically attracted towards her or not, they were partners and they were supposed to look out for each other which is exactly what he did. He wasn't going to let her forget that. "It is my business Hailey because I am your partner! My job is to look out for you and to let our boss know if you are in danger!"

"I wasn't in danger!" Hailey screamed. Jay immediately regretted his decision to snap at her, as now this was on the verge of becoming a screaming match and those were never productive. "It was in the past! It happened when I was not in Intelligence and there was no reason for you to tell Voight!"

Jay decided to deescalate the situation as best he could and sat down on a stool near the counter. He leaned in and maintained firm eye contact with Hailey, who was struggling to keep from lashing out again as she was breathing heavily from just yelling. "I am sorry, ok?" Jay said softly, his eyes just as gentle as his town. "I should've come to you first before I told Voight. But you have to understand that I...I was only thinking of you when I told Voight." Jay sighed before continuing, his voice wavering and becoming choked up. "When I found out what Booth did to you, I-" he stopped, taking a breath to stay at ease and not get upset. "I wanted to kill that son of a bitch with my own bare hands. I hated him and I hated what he did to you, and I thought telling Voight was the best thing to do for you." Jay watched Hailey carefully and was relieved to see her cold appearance begin to meld, her bitterness slowly going away. "I am your partner," he repeated. "I am your _partner_. I will always look out for you."

Hailey was now the one to look away from Jay, as she moved her glance to the floor and Jay took the opportunity to practically catch his breath. He had been on the defensive of those harsh eyes the entire time he was here and now was offered a short break when she looked away. However, his victory was short lived as she looked back up, her eyes sour once more.

"You told Voight because of how _you_ felt," she muttered. "You said you wanted to kill Booth with your bare hands. Fine. I did too. But that doesn't mean I was gonna tell Voight!" Her voice was raised once again and Jay leaned back as Hailey stepped closer to him. "The job was over! We arrested Booth and yet you still told Voight about our history! I wasn't in danger! There was no reason for you to tell Voight!"

Jay closed his eyes and shook his head. Hailey was fuming and he knew that. She felt betrayed, understandably, but Jay could tell that her logic when it came to this situation was skewed. She said he told Voight because of how Jay felt, but that wouldn't have mattered since Booth was already arrested by that time. Jay told Voight so that Voight would take necessary precautions with Hailey, like therapy, and Jay wanted to make that clear to her. He already tried, but she was angry and she wasn't going to listen. Jay knew that there was no getting through to her now.

"We'll talk about this later when you're less emotional because right now-," Jay said and stood up.

" _Emotional_?" Hailey repeated and Jay quickly shook his head, eagerly holding a hand out in an apologetic way.

"Hey, wait, you know that's not what I meant-"

"You stab me in the back then insinuate I'm overreacting? Not to mention that you lied to me too!" Hailey retorted and stopped Jay before he could say anything else. "Get the hell out! Go!" Jay didn't try to say anything else and briskly walked past her, heading for the door. She followed behind him. "Some partner you are!" she sneered sarcastically before slamming the door once Jay exited her place. He put both hands to his face and rubbed his forward, then pushing both through his hair in a stressed manner. He stood outside her door for a few seconds, trying to will his feet to move forward. He abruptly turned around and was about to knock on her door, his hand balled into a fist and up, hovering by the door. However, he couldn't do it and lowered his hand. He bit his inner lip in an attempt to stop a tear trying to escape his eye and hurried away from Hailey's door.

* * *

 **Hello! SOOOO sorry I haven't updated in a LONG time! I had a busy past few months and forgot about this story tbh, but the finale of this season of Chicago PD inspired me to start writing again!**

 **I wrote the first three chapters before Upzek was a thing but I'm more of a fan of Upstead personally! There'll be plenty of that in this story, as you saw in this chapter! I think clueless Jay is kind of hilarious which is why I had him think Hailey was mad at him for a completely different reason lol! Please leave a review if you like the story, I will update again soon :)**


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